P.E.I. ferry engine room fire continues to burn, crossings cancelled this weekend
WOOD ISLANDS, P.E.I. – An engine room fireplace that broke out aboard a ferry crossing the Northumberland Strait between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island on Friday morning continues to burn.
Northumberland Ferries Ltd. says efforts to extinguish the blaze had been deserted late Friday and the ship’s crew and firefighters had been evacuated because of security issues.
The corporate says smoke can nonetheless be seen billowing out of the vessel’s funnels, a stack aboard the ship used emit engine exhaust, greater than 24 hours later.
It says the Canadian Coast Guard is standing by the ship to supply help whereas an environmental response group is on website monitoring the state of affairs.
Northumberland Ferries has cancelled all service between Caribou, N.S., and Wooden Islands, P.E.I., this weekend.
About 230 passengers had been evacuated from the MV Vacation Island because it neared Wooden Islands shortly after 11 a.m. Friday. There have been no accidents reported, however the firm says it’s not sure if it will likely be in a position to get well the roughly 80 automobiles and three business vans that had been on board when the hearth broke out.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed July 23, 2022.
